by Sonu Munshi, USA TODAY Sports

by Sonu Munshi, USA TODAY Sports

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- An effort is under way to take a controversial multimillion-dollar hockey arena-management deal to voters via a citizens referendum.

The Glendale City Council, in a 4-2 vote, approved the deal this week with potential Phoenix Coyotes buyer Greg Jamison. Two days later, two of the critics, Glendale residents Ken Jones and Francine Romesburg, formed a political committee called Back to Sanity, to initiate a referendum.

The committee has less than 30 days to collect nearly 7,000 signatures.

The number is based on 10% of votes at the last election. This year's Glendale election happened to have the highest turnout in the city's history, with 69,558 voters.

Jones said he has a lot of people volunteering to help.

"I'm not predicting whether we'll get to it (the necessary number of signatures) or not, but the interest is already there from people to hit the streets right away," Jones said.

Jones tried to get a referendum on the November ballot but was unable to collect the necessary number of signatures.